News

A class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York could be the next test case for how far employers may go to avoid penalties under the Affordable Care Act. The lead plaintiff is Maria Marin of Queens, who, according to the suit that was filed in May, works at the Times Square Dave & Buster's, a national restaurant chain with 72 stores in 30 states. The suit claims Marin's hours were reduced to avoid complying with a provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires that employers provide health insurance. It accuses the company of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which prohibits employers from interfering with a worker's right to benefits, such as health insurance.The Affordable Care Act mandates that employers insure all full-time employees, defined as those working more than 30 hours per week, or pay a penalty for each uninsured worker.

Following the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to remove partially hydrogenated oils from its list of “Generally Recognized as Safe” ingredients, the National Restaurant Association is offering information to help operators better understand the rule.The FDA said June 16 it is removing PHOs, the main contributor of artificial trans fat in the food supply, from the GRAS list.Starting June 2018, restaurants, foodservice operators, manufacturers and others will no longer be permitted to sell items made with or containing PHOs without prior FDA approval.

The former chief economist to Vice President Biden, Jared Bernstein, recently wrote in The Washington Post that the Affordable Care Act is here to stay. The Excise Tax on benefits is an important part of the plan and the impact on employers will be huge. Mercer research found that about one-third of employers will have to pay the Excise Tax in 2018 if they do nothing to change their plans now. By 2022, the number would jump to almost 60%.Will your employer pay? Find out in less than a minute using our Excise Tax calculator.

WASHINGTON – A new economic study released today highlights how the U.S. beer industry – from brewers and beer importers to beer distributors to retailers – generates nearly $253 billion in economic activity, produces $48.5 billion in tax revenue and supports 1.75 million jobs. Economic impact figures, tax contributions and job data for each state can be found here www.BeerServesAmerica.org. The Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) will release the Beer Serves America report during a Congressional briefing later today detailing the industry’s complete impact on the American economy. The study, based on government and industry data, examines direct, indirect and induced spending, labor and tax collection. The report concludes:

Atlanta (July 30, 2015) – The Georgia Restaurant Association is alerting Georgia’s restaurants to recent reports of potential cyclosporiasis infections. Georgia Department of Public Health is working to investigate these reports and to identify the source of contamination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state public health officials have identified annually recurring outbreaks of cyclosporiasis in the United States which has been associated with fresh cilantro from the state of Puebla, Mexico. There is currently another ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis in the United States in which state public health officials in Texas and Wisconsin have identified cilantro from the Mexican state of Puebla as a suspect vehicle with respect to separate illness clusters.Caused by the cyclospora parasite, cyclosporiasis infects people through contaminated food or water. Previously documented outbreaks have been associated with salad mix, fresh herbs (cilantro and basil), and berries (fresh and frozen). Fresh produce can also be affected through irrigation with contaminated water. Cyclospora is known to have a complex life cycle that makes transmission from an infected food handler unlikely. Washing fresh produce may help but cannot eliminate the risk for infection. Though the Health Department has assured us that this parasite did not originate in a restaurant, restaurants are still advised to continue proper food safety practices.

Kids LiveWell restaurants celebrate initiative’s 4th birthday with special kids’ deals and birthday-themed Twitter chat(Washington, D.C.) The National Restaurant Association announced today its award-winning Kids LiveWell initiative is marking its four-year anniversary this month with a growing list of restaurants offering healthful children’s menu choices to families in every state. In four short years, the voluntary program has expanded from 19 to over 155 participating restaurant brands, representing more than 42,000 locations nationwide. New restaurant brands include Baja Fresh, Hard Rock Café, Red Robin, Schlotzsky’s and Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar, among other regional chains and independent restaurants.The initiative includes quickservice and tableservice concepts, as well as theme parks, resorts and museums.For an overview of Kids LiveWell, watch our new video: https://youtu.be/SUSQFfacb9k

Marketing your restaurant is the one of the most important factors ensuring it takes off and takes root.

In fact, not properly marketing your business is one of the common restaurant mistakes we outlined in a previous post. There’s no doubt among the seemingly hundreds of other tasks crowding your day, marketing your restaurant is hard to fit in.Our suggestion? Find a dedicated person on your team who is marketing-savvy to handle each aspect of your marketing. This gives your staff a chance to shine, takes the burden off you, and draws attention to your restaurant.So once you have staff members dedicated to your restaurant marketing, how do you know what strategies, channels and tactics to use? Here’s a breakdown of three sure-fire marketing secrets that will get your restaurant noticed.

The Taste of Chamblee 2015 will be Sept. 12th. We need restaurants to participate and vendors. The pricing has been reduced and volunteers are needed as well. Restaurants and vendors can sign up online and get more information at: http://tasteofchamblee.net.

The third annual Classic City BBQ Festival will heat up Aug. 14-15 at The Classic Center in Athens, Ga. The family-friendly festival attracted 2,400 people last year. The event will feature three barbecue contests, local barbecue restaurant vendors, an outdoor music stage, classic car show, tailgate tradeshow, kids zone and more.

ImNotAtWork.com is a new website that allows you to feature your restaurant or bar and promote all of your specials and events. By allowing customers to search for exactly what they're interested in (such as live music this weekend, a seafood special next Monday, or craft beer and an outdoor area tonight), your presence on the site will help new customers find you and will keep them coming back.

A class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York could be the next test case for how far employers may go to avoid penalties under the Affordable Care Act. The lead plaintiff is Maria Marin of Queens, who, according to the suit that was filed in May, works at the Times Square Dave & Buster's, a national restaurant chain with 72 stores in 30 states. The suit claims Marin's hours were reduced to avoid complying with a provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires that employers provide health insurance. It accuses the company of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which prohibits employers from interfering with a worker's right to benefits, such as health insurance.The Affordable Care Act mandates that employers insure all full-time employees, defined as those working more than 30 hours per week, or pay a penalty for each uninsured worker.

Following the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to remove partially hydrogenated oils from its list of “Generally Recognized as Safe” ingredients, the National Restaurant Association is offering information to help operators better understand the rule.The FDA said June 16 it is removing PHOs, the main contributor of artificial trans fat in the food supply, from the GRAS list.Starting June 2018, restaurants, foodservice operators, manufacturers and others will no longer be permitted to sell items made with or containing PHOs without prior FDA approval.

The former chief economist to Vice President Biden, Jared Bernstein, recently wrote in The Washington Post that the Affordable Care Act is here to stay. The Excise Tax on benefits is an important part of the plan and the impact on employers will be huge. Mercer research found that about one-third of employers will have to pay the Excise Tax in 2018 if they do nothing to change their plans now. By 2022, the number would jump to almost 60%.Will your employer pay? Find out in less than a minute using our Excise Tax calculator.

WASHINGTON – A new economic study released today highlights how the U.S. beer industry – from brewers and beer importers to beer distributors to retailers – generates nearly $253 billion in economic activity, produces $48.5 billion in tax revenue and supports 1.75 million jobs. Economic impact figures, tax contributions and job data for each state can be found here www.BeerServesAmerica.org. The Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) will release the Beer Serves America report during a Congressional briefing later today detailing the industry’s complete impact on the American economy. The study, based on government and industry data, examines direct, indirect and induced spending, labor and tax collection. The report concludes:

Atlanta (July 30, 2015) – The Georgia Restaurant Association is alerting Georgia’s restaurants to recent reports of potential cyclosporiasis infections. Georgia Department of Public Health is working to investigate these reports and to identify the source of contamination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state public health officials have identified annually recurring outbreaks of cyclosporiasis in the United States which has been associated with fresh cilantro from the state of Puebla, Mexico. There is currently another ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis in the United States in which state public health officials in Texas and Wisconsin have identified cilantro from the Mexican state of Puebla as a suspect vehicle with respect to separate illness clusters.Caused by the cyclospora parasite, cyclosporiasis infects people through contaminated food or water. Previously documented outbreaks have been associated with salad mix, fresh herbs (cilantro and basil), and berries (fresh and frozen). Fresh produce can also be affected through irrigation with contaminated water. Cyclospora is known to have a complex life cycle that makes transmission from an infected food handler unlikely. Washing fresh produce may help but cannot eliminate the risk for infection. Though the Health Department has assured us that this parasite did not originate in a restaurant, restaurants are still advised to continue proper food safety practices.

Kids LiveWell restaurants celebrate initiative’s 4th birthday with special kids’ deals and birthday-themed Twitter chat(Washington, D.C.) The National Restaurant Association announced today its award-winning Kids LiveWell initiative is marking its four-year anniversary this month with a growing list of restaurants offering healthful children’s menu choices to families in every state. In four short years, the voluntary program has expanded from 19 to over 155 participating restaurant brands, representing more than 42,000 locations nationwide. New restaurant brands include Baja Fresh, Hard Rock Café, Red Robin, Schlotzsky’s and Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar, among other regional chains and independent restaurants.The initiative includes quickservice and tableservice concepts, as well as theme parks, resorts and museums.For an overview of Kids LiveWell, watch our new video: https://youtu.be/SUSQFfacb9k

Marketing your restaurant is the one of the most important factors ensuring it takes off and takes root.

In fact, not properly marketing your business is one of the common restaurant mistakes we outlined in a previous post. There’s no doubt among the seemingly hundreds of other tasks crowding your day, marketing your restaurant is hard to fit in.Our suggestion? Find a dedicated person on your team who is marketing-savvy to handle each aspect of your marketing. This gives your staff a chance to shine, takes the burden off you, and draws attention to your restaurant.So once you have staff members dedicated to your restaurant marketing, how do you know what strategies, channels and tactics to use? Here’s a breakdown of three sure-fire marketing secrets that will get your restaurant noticed.

The Taste of Chamblee 2015 will be Sept. 12th. We need restaurants to participate and vendors. The pricing has been reduced and volunteers are needed as well. Restaurants and vendors can sign up online and get more information at: http://tasteofchamblee.net.

The third annual Classic City BBQ Festival will heat up Aug. 14-15 at The Classic Center in Athens, Ga. The family-friendly festival attracted 2,400 people last year. The event will feature three barbecue contests, local barbecue restaurant vendors, an outdoor music stage, classic car show, tailgate tradeshow, kids zone and more.

ImNotAtWork.com is a new website that allows you to feature your restaurant or bar and promote all of your specials and events. By allowing customers to search for exactly what they're interested in (such as live music this weekend, a seafood special next Monday, or craft beer and an outdoor area tonight), your presence on the site will help new customers find you and will keep them coming back.